Manuscript on parchment of 1) Le livre de Lancelot du Lac, part III. 2) La queste del Saint Graal. 3) La mort au Roy Artus
Description:
In French., Script: Written in elegant gothic textura by one scribe, with a few interlinear corrections in later hands (14th and 15th centuries)., The decoration of this lavishly illuminated manuscript consists of seventy-seven large column miniatures, fifty-one smaller miniatures, and thirty-six historiated initials. Miniatures and historiated initials by at least two artists, the scale and quality of whose work distinguish the manuscript from contemporary and most fourteenth-century Arthurian manuscripts., Large miniatures, 12- to 11-lines, one column, framed and usually divided into two registers by thin bands, gold, red and/or blue with white highlights, edged in black, sometimes with arched canopies, often with architectural elements protruding (a few frames composed of thicker bands); figures in black pen against burnished gold (occasionally with painted gold diaperwork), blue or black grounds; chief colors: light blue, dark blue, grey, light brown, white, maroon, with some orange, green and gold. Borders on folios with large miniatures of a variety and inventiveness that defy strict classification: gold, red, and blue bands, edged in black, also running between, below and/or above text columns, terminating in dragons, dragon or human heads, groteques or, most commonly, floral spirals, some with frets, blue and red with white highlights and orange and green dots, against gold, blue and/or maroon cusped grounds, often with pinwheel-like projections. The borders are populated with magnificent grotesques and marginalia in the same style as the miniatures, many of them of a narrative or satirical character; some of these incorporate coats of arms., Small miniatures, 5- to 6-line, 1/2 text column, often with a 2-line initial inserted in upper right corner, otherwise as above, with border decoration on a smaller scale and unattached to miniature. Historiated initials, 5-line (letters without ascenders or descenders) to 13-line, red and/or blue, with geometric motifs in paler shades of red and blue, white, with touches of orange, against gold grounds, edged in black, with long dragon and floral serifs, as above, against cusped gold grounds; figures in same style as miniatures, against gold grounds., Illuminated initials, 3- to 1-line, gold, with globular serifs, edged thickly in black, against irregular red and blue grounds, also edged in black, with white floral filigree or heraldic birds, in white; flowers touched in with orange. On folios without miniatures (except ff. 2v-8v), a thin gold band runs along the left side of each text column, interrupted by initials, with a thin red pen-line on either side; adjacent, to the left, a column of I's each 3-line and blue and red alternately, with small spiral and curlicue flourishes, terminating in large flourishes in red or blue on alternate openings, each with pinwheel-like arms projecting from a central spiral with small petals and flourishes in blue and red; design of the terminal flourishes varies from one gathering to another; some with naturalistic leaves and flowers or fleurs-de-lis; terminals on ff. 1v-2r by the same hand as penwork initials on those folios. Line-fillers of varying design: two pairs of blue and red tapering bands, heraldically arranged and joined at center by red flower; undulating red line with red and/or blue balls under and over each crest and trough; red zigzag with blue infilling and spiral flourishes at terminals; alternating red and blue flowers; red and blue dots, etc., Some folios stained; f. 253 slashed in margin; f. 361 cut right across and glued together., and Binding: 2003. Full alum-tawed goatskin. See conservation treatment report for full description. Former binding stored in separate box: 18th century. Light brown calf blind- and gold-tooled. Sewing holes in inner margins.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Arthurian romances, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of 1) Robert de Borron, Joseph d'Arimathie. 2) Robert de Borron, Lestoire de Saint Graal. 3) Robert de Borron, Lestoire de Merlin. Lestoire de Merlin was copied in 1357, by Jehan de Loles. The other two works are probably contemporary, but rubbing on the first folio of each work suggests that they were once bound separately
Description:
In French., Script: Written by five scribes in gothic textura. Scribe 1: ff. 1r-11r (Joseph d'Aramathie). Scribes 2: ff. 12r-83v and 3: ff. 84r-140r (Lestoire de Saint Graal). Scribe 4: ff. 141r-317v (Lestoire de Merlin), except ff. 149r-156v, the second gathering, written by Scribe 5. Scribe 4 is identified as Jehan de Loles from the colophon. Guides for rubrics written in lower or inner margin. Inscriptions adjoining miniatures in 14th-century cursive, brown or black ink, are possibly either later identifications or instructions to the minaturist., The decoration, the work of four hands, is of relatively poor quality. Three large miniatures, 11- to 13-line and two column, blue and/or red frames, gold squares in corners, surrounded by a thin gold band, with gold ivy leaves on black hair-lines at midpoints and corners. Miniatures accompanied by 3/4 bar borders, red, blue and gold, with white highlights; dragon and ivy terminals, with additional ivy extending from the gold segments. 182 small miniatures, 8-line, one column, most in bottom margin, suggesting execution after the original illumination had been completed: thin gold, red, and blue frames, single gold ivy leaf on hair-line stem at each corner; gold and diapered grounds., One historiated initial, f. 186v, 3-line, red against a blue and gold ground, knight and three men outside tent. Illuminated initials, 6- to 4-line, for books and chapters, red against irregular blue grounds with white highlights; gold dots in cusps at corners, infilled with blue and red ivy against gold. 2-line initials (guide-letters remain), gold, against irregular blue, orange, and red grounds with white highlights; black hair-lines at corners. Rubrics in red throughout, with guides for rubrics written in lower or inner margin., and Binding: Sixteenth century. Worn purple velvet over boards, with massive brass corner pieces and fastenings; plaque with arms removed from front cover. Made for Henri, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Robert, de Boron, 13th cent.
Subject (Topic):
Arthurian romances, French literature, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Bible.--Latin--Versions, Bible--Paraphrases, Christian poetry, Latin (Medieval and modern), Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment, composed of three parts, of Petrus Riga, Aurora, Biblia Versificata (a Latin verse translation of the Bible). Parts I and III in the same format and possibly from the same manuscript.
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century, Belgium. Tan calf over wooden boards, blind-tooled with the Arenberg arms on the sides. Title on spine: "Sacrae Scripturae excerptae/ Circa 1225-50". Remains of old fore-edge tabs., Parts I and III: Red initials, plain or with modest designs throughout. Headings in red often added to right of text. First letter of each verse stroked in red or ochre, often by drawing a single line the length of the written space. Part II: Plain initials and headings in red throughout., Presented by Otto Rauschberg in 1956 to Thomas E. Marston., and Script: Parts I and III (ff. 1-72 and 113-136): Copied by multiple scribes in small gothic bookhand, with first letter of each verse usually aligned on the second vertical bounding line. Part II (ff. 73-112): Written by multiple scribes in a larger module and a neater gothic script than that in Parts I and III; each verse is justified by the placement of the final letter along outer vertical ruling. Script has often been retraced.
Subject (Name):
Peter Riga,--ca. 1140-1209
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--Latin--Versions, Latin poetry, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript fragment on parchment of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ḥullin, which covers a discussion of mutual exclusion, the father's responsibility for his minor daughter, levirate marriage obligations, when the ram's horn (shofar) is blown, and when the separation (havdalah) prayer is said at the end of a festival
Description:
In Aramaic and Hebrew., Script: written in semi-cursive script., and 1 column. 26 lines. Dry-point ruling.
Manuscript on parchment of Lucan, Bellum civile, with scholia. Preceded by Epitaphium Lucani, 4 lines only.
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century. Light brown pigskin, blind-tooled, with brass fastenings., Decorative initials, red or blue, 12- to 4-line, with simple designs in opposite color, for each book. Rubrics added sporadically. Plan of Brindisi appears in the margin of f. 15v (II.610) to illustrate Caesar's siege of the city; on f. 47v is a schematic circular drawing of Paulus in the center, surrounded by Pelion, Ossa, Otrix, Pindus and Olympus., Rubbing, staining, trimming of leaves, and worm holes result in some loss of text and scholia., and Script: Main text written above and below top line in a small early gothic bookhand by two scribes. Scribe 1) ff. 1r-37r; Scribe 2) ff. 37v-91v. First letter of each verse written to left of text between double rulings or on middle of three rulings; right-hand margin justified. Scholia, primarily at beginning of codex, written in a contemporary hand.
Subject (Geographic):
Rome--History
Subject (Name):
Lucan,--39-65
Subject (Topic):
Historical poetry, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Scholia
Manuscript, on parchment, of the Bible, including prologues. The Old Testament omits 1 and 2 Chronicles and Psalms; Esther and Judith follow Nehemiah. New Testament is incomplete: Acts folllows the Pauline and Catholic epistles but ends in chapter 13; Revelations not present. Chapter divisions throughout often deviate from Langton arrangement. Numerous brief marginal annoations in several hands
Description:
In Latin., Numerous brief marginal annotations, in Latin, in several thirteenth and fourteenth century hands, apparently English. Ecclesiastes annotated in at least four different hands., Layout: double columns of 55 lines., Script: gothica textualis., Decoration: each prologue and book opens with a large initial in red and blue with red and blue penwork, often with bar extensions in red and blue., and Binding: seventeenth-century full dark blue English polished calf. with extensive gold tooling in cottage style. Six-compartmented spine; all compartments gold-tooled except for the second, which contains a handwritten paper label: "Latin Bible. Manuscript." Marbled endpapers.
Manuscript on parchment of the Vulgate Bible, with interpretations of Hebrew names
Description:
In Latin., Script: Copied in small Northern Gothica Textualis (Pearl Script), Decoration: Historiated initials, with a normal height of 6 lines, at beginning of each book (further on this, see the catalog description); 4-line foliate initials, half inserted, at the beginning of each prologue; running headlines and chapter numbers alternately in red and blue majuscules or roman numerals., and Binding: 18th or 19th century romantic binding by François Bozerian (Bozerian Jeune): red morocco over cardboard; both covers gold- and blind-tooled with cruciform and floral motifs; gold-tooled spine with four raised bands and a gold-tooled title, "BIBLIA SACRA."
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Remigius, of Auxerre, approximately 841-908.
Subject (Topic):
Versions, Vulgate, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval